Erik Darnell's weekend in Nashville did not begin at all as he hoped it would. His Northern Tool + Equipment team struggled to hit on a setup that would work for the track record holder, but it was not for lack of effort. Between practice sessions, the No. 99 crew changed everything under the truck in hopes of hitting on something that would help, but it was too little avail. However, the team made wholesale changes before qualifying that would make his Ford among the fastest trucks in the field. Things seemed to be going their way, but after changing tires on an early pit stop, their hopes for the win went by the wayside.

After recording practice times towards the back of the field in both practice sessions, Darnell posted the eighth-fastest time in qualifying on Saturday morning. When the green flag dropped to start the race later that evening, Darnell quickly established himself as a contender for the win. By lap 20, Darnell had advanced to the fourth spot, and consistently recorded quick lap times. As the laps continued to click off, Darnell reported to the crew that he was starting to get loose under throttle. A timely caution for debris at lap 42 allowed Darnell to come to pit road for tires and fuel. Knowing that their F-150 was handling just the way they wanted it to, the team elected to not make any adjustments. Quick work on pit road allowed Darnell to line up for the restart in the fifth position for the restart.

When the green flag dropped and the field headed into turn one, Darnell drifted up towards the wall, allowing the field to make quick work of sending him back in the pack. Darnell struggled to get a feel for what was wrong with the truck, and continued to lose positions as he tried to regain control of his F-150. "It feels like it doesn't want to turn," he reported to the crew. Luckily for the Northern Tool + Equipment team, the caution flag came out at lap 53 for a wreck involving the No. 4 truck. Darnell took advantage of the opportunity to come to pit road for tires and fuel. Darnell lined up in the 24th position for the restart, hoping his problems were cured.

After examining the tires that came off the No. 99, crew chief John Quinn assessed that the tires were from a very old batch, and that they would not match up with the setup that was under the truck. Once the field went back to racing, Quinn's thoughts were confirmed as Darnell began to run lap times similar to what he had run earlier in the race. Darnell made the most of the situation, passing trucks and working his way back towards the front of the field. By the time the caution flag was displayed at lap 109 for an incident involving the No. 23 truck, Darnell had moved up to the ninth position. Darnell came to pit road with the rest of the leaders for tires and fuel, but due to their tire situation, the No. 99 team was forced to reuse the set they had started the race on, handicapping their ability to contend for the race win. Darnell restarted in the eighth position, and would eventually settle for a ninth place finish, one he and the team considered to be very disappointing.

"I've got to thank crew chief John Quinn and all the guys on the Northern Tool + Equipment team, they worked their tails off this week," said Darnell. "We were terrible in practice yesterday. I think we changed everything but the radiator cap on the truck this morning. We were in the top-five in our first run and then we put on the second set of tires. I don't know what the deal was, but it was a bad set of tires. We went from having a top-five truck to the point where I couldn't even get out of my own way. Our last pit stop, we had to put our first set of tires back on, which had 40 laps on the already, so we were just fighting the guys with fresher tires at that point. I'm just happy we were able to bring home a top-10 tonight."

Darnell and the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment remain 10th in the Craftsman Truck Series point standings following their ninth place finish at Nashville. The Craftsman Truck Series races next at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 22.